When to Perform a Culture Audit

A healthy workplace culture has a direct impact on employee satisfaction and thus retention, which means that maintaining a positive culture is essential to organizational success. You can think of the culture of an organization as its personality. This encompasses the values, beliefs, norms, and overall attitudes that define the employee experience. As such, the culture can shift with time, making it necessary to perform a culture audit periodically to ensure that the workplace culture is still in line with the overarching goals and values of the organization. 

A culture audit is a structured check-in that analyzes the internal health of the organization. Are daily operations in support of the mission of the organization? What are the values exhibited by employees? Is the team working well together? A culture audit should be performed during times of growth, change, or tension to ensure that the culture is supporting the team and their goals instead of working against them.

The company culture should not just be a byproduct of team interactions, but rather an intentional environment in which employees feel valued, respected, and supported. This often starts from the top down. Leaders must model and reinforce the behaviors that they expect from their team members. They also need to foster team collaboration, improve communication processes, and create a space where employees are comfortable speaking up or asking questions. Not only does this help improve employee engagement and satisfaction, it also increases employee performance and morale. When employees are happy, it permeates into the customer experience.

While leaders do set the tone for the kind of culture employees will experience, the responsibility is not solely theirs. Individual employees contribute to the workplace culture as well. That is why finding people who fit within the organization is just as important as ensuring that they have the necessary skills for the job. When employees are not aligned with the organization, it can create tension and chaos. When employees do feel a sense of belonging, they are more motivated to contribute positively to the workplace culture, and they are willing to collaborate with others to create the best experience possible.

If you want to create a culture of learning, excellence, and respect, you have to be intentional about setting standards within your team and reinforcing or correcting certain behaviors. Do not be afraid to perform a culture audit and make adjustments if necessary. After all, culture largely influences the overall success of the organization, both internally and externally.

-Meghan Slaughter